Chapter Eight - part two

   James was called to the dean's office first thing that morning. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he hadn't expected to find the superintendent there or his coaches. He knew this wasn't going to be good. They wouldn't all be there together for good news, not with faces that serious looking. Brigadier General Holmes smiled and asked James to take a seat. Then he handed James a paper. It was the leading track and field publication in the country. One look at the front cover made James groan and drop his head. In bold print above a picture of James, in uniform, was a simple statement. It read only 'The Academy Unveils Secret Weapon', but that wasn't the worst. Just below his picture was a simple caption in almost as big a print, 'USAFA's Ironman'. James didn't have to look to see who had written the story. He knew it would be Candy Ackerman and worse James had a feeling she had included the story of his Ironman run. How she got that he didn't know, but he had little doubt it was inside waiting for the world to read.

    James shook his head and then looked up at the dean and handed the paper back. He didn't want to read it at the moment. Somehow he figured he would hear all about it very soon. James spoke softly as Brig. General Holmes took the paper from his hand. "Sir, I am sorry, sir." Much to his surprise the dean chuckled as he replied. "You have nothing to be sorry for. We had a meeting with Miss Ackerman while you were still at the meet. In fact we knew she was considering writing about you even before your remarkable finishes. We had hoped that she might reconsider, but, as you can see, that didn't happen." Lt. General McBride spoke up at that point. "Mark is correct when he says you have nothing to be sorry for. While you are the focus of this story you had little to do with it. In fact you may have just as indirectly helped to soften it a bit. Miss Ackerman was willing to listen to our concerns about having that story made common public knowledge. However, she made it very clear that she was more concerned about the effect of the story on you and your future than she was about the possible effects on the Academy itself. You weren't called here for disciplinary action or blame."

   McBride paused before continuing. "The fact is that I suppose we should thank you for having such a profound effect on Miss Ackerman. Not only was she willing to talk with us, but she seems to have made a genuine effort to take a lot of the bite out of her original story. She came to show me what she had written and to confirm her story. I have done some checking and that isn't typical for her. She often writes and publishes her stories with little or no warning. In spite of all that, we still seem to have another major incident on our hands with you at the very center of it once again. I thought it best if we all came to agreement on how this will be handled before it hits. I have little doubt that it will hit us in a major way and that we will be dealing with it for some time to come." James just nodded his head, but said nothing.

  What could he say? James wasn't sure what to think, much less what to do. The Academy had worked very hard to keep the talk of the Ironman run to a minimum away from the Hill. Now it was likely to be common knowledge in a matter of days at best. As James was trying to sort it all out in his own mind he was still listening as the people in the room began discussing it in detail. It seemed that while she had gone into detail about his run, she had left out some keys points. She had spoken of the severely injured feet of the cadet he carried to the finish, but she hadn't mentioned how those injuries might possibly have happened. She also had talked about his Christian faith and the fact that the cadet he had helped was a devout Muslim. She had mentioned the praying that had happened during the run, but she hadn't gone into details. She did have those. In fact she had seen a video and had a written transcript of the prayer Aadila had prayed for him. She did describe in detail how they had finished the run and his collapse afterwards. She hadn't mentioned the length of his stay in the base hospital though. All things considered she seemed to have written it all in the best possible way for everyone involved.

   As James was listening to all of this, another officer arrived. At least this one wasn't wearing stars. It was Major Fouts. When she arrived she came directly to the chair where James was seated and took up position beside it. As she did that Lt. General McBride laughed and spoke quickly to her. "At ease Major, we aren't out to do any harm to your cadet. We should have notified you, but honestly I just didn't think about it. You have both my apology and my assurance that we are here to help not hurt." James got up and insisted that Major Fouts take his seat, once attention had moved back to the discussion about how to handle this. He was stunned to find out that local and national news stations had already been in contact with the Academy about him. The more he listened the more concerned he became about the entire situation. The last thing he wanted or needed was the attention of the national news concerning his Ironman run. It didn't sound like he had a chance of avoiding that, short of going into seclusion.

   James didn't get many or take any opportunities to contribute to the discussion. Major Fouts had also remained relatively silent during most of it. She had asked for the paper and read the entire article while listening to the debate. Once she had finished she had handed it back to James and motioned for him to read it. He hadn't really wanted to read it, but once he started he was soon oblivious to anything else. Candy Ackerman was a very gifted writer. She had grabbed his attention immediately and then held it all the way to the end. Worse yet in his mind, she actually left him wanting to know more. He did have to admit that she had gotten most of the details down very accurately and yet managed to leave out critical items that would have completely altered the way people would look at the event. Unfortunately James still came out looking like a bigger than life hero. One that was always ready to step up and save the day when another cadet was in need of help. She had tied his actions in the Ironman directly to him stepping in for an injured teammate in the relay races. She was indeed a very good writer, good enough to get national news attention.

   Looking up after he had finished reading he found himself the center of attention once more. The room was deadly silent and everyone seemed to be watching him. He hadn't been aware they had stopped their discussion. Major Fouts broke the silence. "Well Cooper, now that you have read the article, what do you have to say?" James just looked at her for a moment and then taking a deep breath spoke directly to her. "Ma'am, I can only say that it was very well written and highly accurate. However, it does appear that Miss Ackerman has made a genuine effort to make the Academy look good while, unfortunately, making me into some kind of hero. I am not sure of how we should progress. I am more concerned about silence than I am about the initial racket this is creating. If we try to remain too quiet I am afraid others will start digging and find out what she did. As bad as I hate to say this I think perhaps the best move would be to attack this head on with everything we have. Bad news hangs around forever, but good news is normally just a quick flash and then it is gone and forgotten. I say give them everything they want without revealing more than we have to reveal. Maybe it will flash and burn out before anything else catches their attention."

   The room remained silent after he was finished. Major Fouts slowly began to smile and stood up beside James to face the others in the room. She was smiling broadly as she began to speak. "With respect, I think Cadet Cooper has once more proven himself to be exactly what Miss Ackerman says he is... a hero. I believe he is exactly right in his assessment of the situation and the best way to proceed with handling it. I see no reason why we should hesitate to let him remain the center of attention and allow him to deal with this issue. I know few officers of any rank who would have the common sense, logic, and sheer nerve to assess this and then make such bold recommendations to a group of generals who have their butts on the line if he is wrong. He handled the Ironman, he handled the National Finals, and he has done a remarkable job of facing all of you. I see no reason why he should have the slightest problem with handling the press. Sirs, I say let him handle it. I will be at his side to take full and complete responsibility if it goes wrong."

  James had listened and watched. He had watched her and he had watched the others as well. He couldn't believe that she was willing to do this for him. Oh sure, she was a decorated hero, but she was still putting her head on the block beside his. She had no reason to do that. The more shocking thing was the look on the faces of the generals who were in charge of the Academy. They were considering doing exactly what she had just suggested. They were considering letting the press have free access to him. James wasn't sure what scared him more, the press, or them putting their trust in him.

   The seconds passed and then Lt. General McBride just nodded his head and spoke. "I think you are right Major. I really see no other option that has a snowball’s chance in hell of working." Then he turned his full attention to James. "It seems that with each passing year you not only advance at the Academy, but you also advance beyond the Academy. While I am not pleased about any of the events that seem to be centered upon your arrival, I cannot actually, in good conscience, hold you responsible for any of them. Cadet Cooper, it would seem our butts and maybe our heads are indeed in your hands. I trust that you will remember that and do your best to keep them safe?" It took James a moment to realize that Lt. General McBride expected an answer from him and was waiting of it. He quickly snapped to attention. "SIR, YES SIR! I will do all I can to keep this 'news flash' from burning all of us to cinders. You have my word on that, Sir."